The Beauty Of The Beast
by So many taken usernames
Summary: Adam was never a man who bothered with sentiment, but Blake's abandonment hit him hard. And no matter how happy he was that she got to leave and follow her own path, a small part of him would never forgive her for what she did.
1. Chapter 1

Many rumors had spread about the White Fang's master swordsman. His jacket was said to be as black as his heart. His blade was red, as if in anticipation of the blood that would coat it. His smile was sickening, the look of a coldblooded psychopath. And he wore a mask, a mask to hide the beast within so that no one would see...until it was too late. The swordsman, for his part, smiled his supposedly sickening smile and enjoyed his reputation. Being public enemy number one was a thrilling and empowering experience. And now with the one person who could see behind the mask having left him, he was free to embrace the tales and enforce them. Garnering fear was part of his job, and walking the talk that spread about his skill was another part, the part he liked most. He always had enjoyed being feared. It was funny, watching all the people who would go pale at the mention of his name, a name he'd brought such fame to that there were those who believed it to be cursed, and who refused to associate themselves with anyone who even jokingly said their name was Adam.

* * *

"Are you sure you should be out on a mission so soon? You judgement could be clouded by recent events," a cold voice said to him over a walkie-talkie.

"Emotions don't have a place in battle. I'll be fine," Adam responded. He was entering a low-security Dust storage facility with the intent of taking the Dust inside and killing the soldiers who guarded it. It wasn't an important mission, but it was a small victory that would give the White Fang an extra edge. As he got closer to the building, he noticed a familiar emblem. He glared at the Schnee family symbol that proudly adorned the entrance to the facility. That same symbol was present when she left him, when he let her go. It was the day his best and only friend, the one person he trusted, the one person he cared for, the one person he could admire, abandoned him on the train. He could have easily jumped the cars and retrieved her by force. He could have killed her for betraying the White Fang, even. But he didn't, because he had too much respect for her than to assume he had the right to stop her from doing what she wanted to do. It hurt to think about her having left, but he knew it was for the best. He knew that Blake Belladonna would be better off without him.

* * *

The Dust facility was, as he had been told and had anticipated, devoid of the high-level security of facilities he tended to break into. He darted in and out of the shadows of the rafters, jumping out and landing behind three men stationed on a metal platform overlooking the production of the Dust. He quickly slit one's throat, and as the other two turned, he dashed past them, raking his blood-red sword across their necks. None of the crimson that covered his blade belonged to the enemy. He had cut them cleanly, so that absolutely no blood touched his katana. However, blood did drip onto the floor below. Ten guards, roughly half of them split between male and female, looked up. Adam had already hidden. But with a flash, he was hidden no more. He dropped onto a woman's head, his blade running through her brain. He ripped it out and turned, dashing towards a frightened man, firing wildly. He hit one of his teammates and Adam beheaded him before he could register what he'd done.

"Get back-" The woman radioing for assistance was cut dead, her walkie-talkie being sliced in half as well. The remaining six soldiers circled Adam and fired. He held up his sheathe, now a rifle, and fired back. He hit one man and spun, ducking under the bullets. He rammed his gun into another soldier's chest, firing. He twisted behind the soldier's dead body, and the bullets hit it. Adam took the chance to dash out from behind his meat shield and sliced through one soldier, and than another, finally stopping to shoot a woman who came up behind him. The last one fell to his knees and crawled away. The warrior simply walked towards him.

"D-Don't you have any honor?! Any morals?! Don't you believe in anything?!" He asked desperately. Adam laughed a bitter and cruel laugh.

"Morals? Beliefs? Those are for self-righteous hypocrites who believe they're superior to everyone who doesn't share their opinions. I'm neither."

"Then who are you?! WHAT are you?!" The masked man smiled enigmatically.

"A beast." And with that, he lopped the soldier's head in half.

"The facility's clear. You can take the Dust," Adam said into his walkie-talkie.

"Good job. Sorry for having you do this grunt work. We'll give you something better next time."

"Glad to hear it." Adam walked out of the facility, looking out at the landscape that was almost entirely covered in red leaves. All he could think about was how beautiful Blake thought it was.

* * *

**A YEAR LATER**

* * *

Adam glared at the castle-like building, standing tall above the city of Vale.

"So this is Beacon, huh? I wonder how she'll like it..." He said. He was happy for her, able to live a normal life for the short time the White Fang left her alone. But even though he was truly glad she found something she wanted to do with her life, he spoke with spite. He was angry at her for leaving, no use denying it.

"So I'm supposed to disrupt a civil rights protest...I never did see the point in those things."

* * *

**A STORY ABOUT ADAM! HOORAY! I ALWAYS DID WONDER HOW HE WAS AFTER BLAKE LEFT, AND I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE TWO HAVE THEIR FATEFUL MEETING IN THE SHOW! I DECIDED TO WRITE THIS AFTER BEING UNABLE TO FIND A STORY SOLELY ABOUT ADAM ON THE SITE. THERE PROBABLY IS ONE, BUT I'M NOT PATIENT AND I LOVE ADAM, SO I FIGURED WHY NOT WRITE A STORY ABOUT HIM? I DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN I'LL WRITE A NEW CHAPTER, BUT IT'LL PROBABLY BE MORE OFTEN THAN I THINK. ALSO, I DECIDED THAT ADAM'S SWORD IS A KATANA, SEEING AS HOW BLAKE USES ONE AND IT MAKES SENSE THAT HER MENTOR WOULD USE THE SAME WEAPON, SEEING AS HOW ADAM DID TEACH HER HOW TO USE IT. I'D LOVE ANY CRITICISMS ANYONE MIGHT HAVE, AS ALWAYS!**


	2. Chapter 2

The protest was taking place in the street. Police were holding off since there was no traffic. School was starting and very few people were traveling by car. The protestors held signs that had idealistic messages, clever slogans, and general protests. Adam looked at the signs. He silently laughed. He thought how tender the world would be, how peaceful history would have been had messages on signs could sway popular opinion. If protest could accomplish anything. He watched from a skyscraper, looking at the fauna and sympathizing with their plight. However, he wasn't here to feel sorry for them. He was here for blood, here to wait for the police to arrive. The White Fang wanted him to take out the police as the dummy protestors they planted in the crowd would reveal themselves and rally the fauna to arms. It sounded insane, but Adam had seen what mob mentality could do. And this protest was looking rather mob-like. But as he waited, his mind drifted from thoughts of the mission. He thought of Beacon, the school he'd once been a student of. He'd left after his second year. It was back when he was naive enough to believe a fauna could survive in a school for humans. He wondered how Blake was getting along, if she was making any friends. He wondered if she was being given a hard time or simply being ignored. He knew she was quiet and good at avoiding attention, but at the same time was a skilled wordsmith and had a playful side to boot. She was a compelling person, someone who captivated people as soon as she spoke. He also knew she'd have the intelligence to hide her fauna features. He remembered her last words to him and snarled. He was still angry. The wound still hurt. And at the thought of her finding friends, the wound hurt more. He wanted desperately to be happy for her freedom, but he was hurt. So, so hurt. She was the only friend he'd ever had, and she'd left him with only one word. "_Goodbye." _And he wanted her to be hurt too. He wanted her to miss him just as much as he missed her.

* * *

Blake stared complacently at the TV. The newscaster spoke with an irksome tone, as if she knew what was happening before it had been reported to her. Blake was emotionless as she watched, looking up from her book. She didn't know why she had. She didn't know what she was expecting to see, but she knew what she saw. Her calm expression tightened, her mouth curved downwards in a frown. The White Fang had disrupted a civil rights protest. No doubt Adam had been there. She'd heard about the protest in advance, about how it had taken months to coordinate. She herself considered participating to take some sort of action against the injustice against fauna. Because she knew she wasn't any better than those she'd left. At least they were taking action. She frowned deeper at her passiveness. But she knew that someday, she'd make it right. She was so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed that the TV was switched off to show a per-recorded message of Glynda Goodwitch welcoming the students to Beacon. Blake clicked her tongue in annoyance before going back to her book.

* * *

His time to strike was now. The police had decided to intervene, and Adam jumped from the roof, landing on the ground. It cracked under his impact, and he looked with calm cruelty at the police, smiling without emotion. The look of a sociopath, the look Adam had made his own. He lunged towards them and cut in motions they couldn't even see. Blood cascaded from the bodies and he sheathed his blade, clean and unstained by their blood. His jacket was left untouched as well. He scoffed. Not even their blood could touch him. Behind him, the White Fang had already put their plan into action. Gunshots rang out as the members got everyone's attention. Some had been shot for trying to disarm the White Fang members. Adam heard a girl cry for her mother who lay dead on the ground. He saw it briefly through the throngs of people. He remained unmoved, even when he found painful memories resurfacing.

"She was weak, as are all those who resist us! They do not wish for change, they only protest to satisfy their ego, to make them believe that they fight for their people, but do they really fight?! No! They hide behind their signs and facades, unwilling to support us, the White Fang, the true freedom fighters! Too long have we been oppressed by humanity. You know how they treat those of a different skin color, how could they possibly react with kindness to us, who have a whole different body part! They treat us like animals! You all know of the Schnee Dust Company and their unfair treatment of fauna employees, you know how the riots always end! They end in death and submission! We, the White Fang, do not stand for submission! We stand for freedom, for justice! We shall avenge those who took action, those who truly fought for their people! Those who wish to join us, those who wish to storm the streets and show that we, the fauna race, will not tolerate the cruelty of humankind, please accept these weapons we bring with us! We honor you, who accept our kind offer. We know you have suffered and we know you wish to bring forth an era of change! So take the next step and act! Fight!" The fauna cried. He was a dummy fauna who had a backpack and microphone. Soon, his cries were joined by many others.

"Fight!" The word resounded throughout the city. Some fauna took the dead officers' guns, and others flocked to the suppliers who had large backpacks full of collapsible, easy-to-use weapons. Some fauna were even trained in the ways of Hunters and Huntresses, and wielded their own Dust weapons.

"Adam! Lead our charge!" The fauna with the microphone shouted. He nodded and ran forward, his unsheathed blade glinting in the sun. Buildings were shot and any who resisted, be they fauna or human, met the same fate. More police were deployed, but Adam killed them all. He was still untouched by their blood. Soon, Adam expected to see Hunters and Huntresses. He knew the government wasn't above using them to quell the fauna protestors.

* * *

Blake pulled out her phone. She sat on her bed, checking the news before reading her book. She glanced at it eagerly, ready to engulf herself in the world she knew through the ink and words. The world that reminded her so much of reality, the world that rang so true to her life. It was a book about a man with two souls, each battling for control over his body. Every time she read it, she thought of Adam. She missed him. She missed him so much. She knew she had done the right thing by leaving, but she wasn't sure if she had done the kind thing. She scrolled down on her touch screen, looking for any footage of the protest anyone might have gotten. Sure enough, she found it. It was mere seconds, but it was enough. Someone had captured Adam on their phone. She looked at his fierce strikes, his incredible speed, his graceful motions. If she didn't know better, she would never have believed he was self-taught. But she quickly put it down, resolving to dedicate herself to her new life at Beacon. She wasn't a child. She wouldn't cling to Adam or his memory. She had a new life and she would live it to the fullest. She would look after herself, because that was who she was now. She wasn't the girl who had idolized the red-haired swordsman, she was the woman who had left him behind.

"Watcha doing?" A cheery voice said behind her, and she looked to see a orange-haired girl in bright pink sleepwear.

"Nora, she's busy. Leave her alone," a young man said kindly. He wore a green tank top and black pajama pants. Blake sighed, ready for a social interaction. She wasn't socially awkward, she just didn't care for being interrupted.

"It's all right. I'm just checking the news."

"Eh, sounds boring. Wait...is there anything about a new study of sloths?" Blake blinked, surprised by the random thought.

"Uh, no."

"Drat. One of these days, the sloth with have its time to shine!" The girl named Nora cried out.

"Sure," the young man said, chuckling. Blake took the opportunity to read her book.

* * *

The Hunter swiped his fists and water spilled from the holes in his gauntlets. Adam stepped back, avoiding the razor-sharp waves. The man kicked and a burst of water shot from his boot. Adam jumped up and used his sword to block the man's next blow, flipping into the air behind him. He swerved and avoided an arcing water wave. He then cut through another. The man attacked, and Adam blocked his blow, moving his sword closer to his body while standing straight. He moved past the man on the outside and twirled his gun around, firing at the Hunter's back. He screamed and Adam turned and cut off his head. A woman jumped out at him with a long staff. It crackled with electricity, and Adam rolled out of the way. He twirled his sword and blocked an attack, and then twirled it again and blocked another strike. He shot at the woman, and the bullet was shocked into dust as lighting crackled from the staff. She then disconnected the staff and wielded two batons. She attacked and he dodged, stepping to one side. He swung his blade quickly and deflected another attack. He swung the blade the opposite way, hitting back yet another strike. Soon, they were trading blows. Adam shifted to avoid crackling lighting as he cut in straight lines, occasionally jumping back to sheathe his blade and unsheathe it, making for faster attacks. The Huntress was clearly at a disadvantage. She couldn't keep up with him. Eventually, he twisted around her and then turned again, unsheathing his blade and cutting her in half. The last Hunter didn't even get to attack. Adam moved with blinding speed and killed him before he could even get out his weapon. The fauna roared for him, cheered for him. He relished the opportunity to enjoy a good fight, but their cheering angered him. However he smiled and waved, walking forward. He didn't look behind him as a fauna got cold feet and was shot for his disobedience. The protest was still ongoing, but they couldn't last for long. Larger enemies would soon be deployed, and they had to retreat, having caused immeasurable property damage and having taken many, many lives. The White Fang now had more soldiers. Mob mentality was a powerful thing. They retreated, and Adam reluctantly turned around, knowing he couldn't take on an entire army. Only most of it. As he walked away, his happiness at having at least two mildly interesting opponents faded, giving way to the disinterest he usually had. He was, to his credit, no psychopath. He felt nothing when he saw the death. No joy. No nothing. It wasn't until later that he considered Blake. She wouldn't be happy about this. And, for her sake, he felt a little annoyance at what he'd had to do. But he wasn't the man she had admired anymore. She was out of his shadow. But one day, he hoped they'd meet so he could get a chance to talk to her, at least one last time. The only thing was that he wasn't sure whether his words would be kind or spiteful.

* * *

**CHAPTER 2 IS DONE! I'M PORTRAYING ADAM AS A SOCIOPATH BECAUSE THAT'S HOW HE COMES OFF IN THE TRAILER. HE DIDN'T WANT TO KILL THE CREW MEMBERS, HE WAS JUST DOING A JOB. THEY'D SIMPLY GET CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE, SOMETHING HE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT. ALSO, BLAKE GOT SOME ATTENTION IN THIS CHAPTER AS WELL, SOMETHING I LIKED THAT I DID. AT THE MOMENT, SHE AND WEISS ARE MY FAVORITE RWBY CHARACTERS. IT USUALLY VARIES WITH EACH EPISODE, BUT WEISS AND BLAKE HAVE BEEN MY FAVORITE FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW. NOT TO DISS RUBY AND YANG. ALL OF THE RWBY GIRLS ARE AWESOME! I HAVE A LITTLE FANTASY IN THE BACK OF MY MIND THAT TEAM RWBY WILL HAVE AN EPIC 4 ON 1 FIGHT WITH ADAM.**


	3. Chapter 3

A man in a red sweatshirt walked down the street. The hood fell over his head, hiding his face from view. He had black fingerless gloves and rather loose blue jeans, and on his feet he wore ratty white shoes. He was the kind of person you'd never look twice at, the person you'd ignore and want to stay away from. Not someone you'd be wary of, just someone you wouldn't want to talk to. He had the appearance of a man down on life, someone who had been dealt a poor hand. That was what Adam was going for. He couldn't simply blend in, he needed to be someone who people would actively stay away from. The more people stayed away from him, the less chance there was of him being discovered. He walked down the dark streets filled with people looking for a good time. This was a place where people could go to blow off steam. There were bars, clubs, and casinos littered all over the dark area. Adam was headed towards one bar in particular. There, he'd find an information broker of notable repute. His name was Junior, and he knew something about the Schnee Dust Company, something Adam was ordered to find out. He was also under orders to find a certain Roman Torchwick and ask him a question.

* * *

Adam entered the club and pulled off his hood. Here, he was safe. No one would dare involve any sort of police force in a club known for its shady business deals. He stalked towards the bar. The well-dressed informant sat there, drinking calmly. Next to him were two girls with heavy makeup. As Adam made his way towards them, a familiar face greeted him.

"Hey, Adam!" He looked to see a man with orange hair and a bowler hat approaching him.

"Torchwick," Adam said coolly.

"I hear Blake left. Shame." Adam said nothing. Torchwick grinned.

"You seem to have gotten over it." Again, Adam said nothing.

"Wow. Taking a page out of her book now, huh? I could never hold a conversation with her. She'd give me a weird look and walk off to wherever you were. I guess she's not that attached to you now." Adam was still silent.

"Okay, okay, I'll shut up. Anyway, what brings you here?"

"I'm looking for information."

"Junior's over there."

"From you."

"Oh. Well, tell me what you need to know. Juggling orders from the White Fang and the Schnee Dust Company is hard, but as long as I get paid, I'll do what I have to." Adam pulled some Lien from his sweatshirt pocket and gave it to Torchwick, who snatched it up gladly.

"I need to know where the Schnee heiress is."

"Wait. The White Fang's after Weiss Schnee? Are you gonna hold her hostage or something?"

"That's only part of the reason."

"Then what else can she possibly be good for?"

"We want her for information."

"So you want information from me to find her to get information from her. Couldn't you just ask me and ignore all the hassle?"

"Weiss Schnee knows more about her parents business than some hired thug, no doubt, even if she doesn't know much. Besides, the White Fang wants to make an example out of her. You know, to cause unrest and monger fear, that kind of thing. Simple terrorist politics." Torchwick laughed.

"You don't sound enthusiastic."

"Do I have to be?" Adam asked.

"You've got a point there. Anyway, Weiss is hanging out at Beacon, surprisingly. I didn't think her parents would let the poor girl leave the mansion, much less attend school. For her, getting kidnapped would probably be a welcome change of pace."

"You make it sound like they put a lot of effort into her."

"They have. The only reason this hostage thing will work is because she's been a long-term project. They couldn't possibly throw all that hard work bringing up the perfect heiress down the drain. Oh, I've also got a little bonus info for you, just because I'm feeling generous. Weiss Schnee and your precious student are getting pretty friendly. You know, fraternizing with the enemy and all that jazz. I wonder if Blake, you know, swings that way? I could see those two hooking up." Adam sighed.

"Do you have any idea how creepy that sounded?"

"I was just trying to get a rise out of you. Aren't you a little miffed that she's all buddy-buddy with the daughter of the Schnee Dust Company?"

"Blake can do what she wants."

"As always, you're never any fun. Pleasure doing business with you," Torchwick said. Doffing his hat to Adam, he walked out of the bar. Various henchmen stationed around the bar followed. Adam had spotted them all, but they did do a good job of looking inconspicuous, to their credit.

* * *

Junior burned through his third drink of the night and sighed. He hadn't gotten a job in a while. He was having trouble paying his agents and maintaining the bar. He didn't get all of his income from the club, after all. However, after tonight, he'd have been fine without having another customer.

"Hey, Junior." A voice behind him said. The two girls next to him glared at the man in the red sweatshirt. His clothes clearly didn't meet their standards, and the man himself wasn't exactly a welcome guest.

"What do you want?" Junior asked warily.

"I'm here for a social visit. What do you think?" Adam asked.

"No need to act like an ass about it. What do you want to know?"

"There's a large Dust shipment going to Beacon. I was wondering if you could find out what route it's taking to get there." Junior sighed.

"I don't work for free," he said irritably. Adam pulled out Lien from another sweatshirt pocket and held it out. Junior grabbed it and sighed again.

"I'll see what I can do." The masked man suddenly fired a jarring punch at Junior's face. His head rocketed back and Adam pulled the man off of his seat by his shirt collar. The two girls next to him got off of their seats and looked ready to rip the masked man apart, but Junior made a hand motion for them to stay down.

"You remember what happened last time. Adam's a...special customer," Junior said furiously. He would have loved to crush the cocky red-haired man right where he stood, bu he knew it was impossible. There wasn't a single person alive who had managed to defeat Adam.

"I don't want you to 'see what you can do.' I want you to make this your priority. I want you to do everything possible to get the information the White Fang wants. Every second of your life will be spent working towards this purpose. When you've got the information, call this number. If you don't have it by a week, I'll be paying you another visit," Adam said threateningly. Junior nodded, taking the card from the masked man's outstretched hand. He pulled it away quickly and Adam let him down. Junior put a hand to his bleeding nose, and the White Fang member waved mockingly at him and the two girls. It made Junior, Melanie, and Militades think of the last time they'd met Adam. That time, he'd been with his partner. The quiet, black-haired girl.

* * *

_Adam walked through the crowds of the city, moving with arrogance and purpose. People stepped away as he walked. He knew how to bear himself in a confident, intimidating manner so that people would know to get out of his way. The girl besides him tagged along, her head down and her walking aimless. She hadn't mastered the art of bearing herself with confidence. They made their way to the club, lights flashing from the inside. It gave Blake a headache._

_"Do we really have to go here?" She asked with gaudiness of the club repelled her, as did everything else. She'd much rather read or spar. _

_"Yes we do. Hey, maybe this'll help you break out of your shell." Blake looked at Adam scathingly._

_"I don't need to 'break out of my shell.' It's not like I'm going to school and making friends. I'm beating people up and going on reconnaissance missions for a civil rights group. I don't need social skills."_

_"You never know. You could be infiltrating a school one day," her partner said coyly. Blake groaned._

_"Really? Those are the most cliche movies ever. If I ever have to watch one again, I swear..." She trailed off. Adam had walked ahead._

_"Adam!" She called out angrily, following the red-haired man._

* * *

_The club was even brighter and noisier from the inside. Blake stepped closer to Adam, having caught up to him. He scanned the area, looking for henchmen._

_"Find the lackeys," he said to her. She looked around and spotted them almost immediately._

_"Too easy," she muttered._

_"Did you get the DJs?" Adam asked, indicating the two masked men above the dance floor. One wore the mask of a simple green monster, and the other had on a rabbit mask. Blake turned red._

_"I...I would have," she said quietly. Adam walked away, heading towards a man in a suit who sat at the bar. Next to him were two girls with fancy dresses and ridiculous amounts of makeup. Blake hated the girls already. She followed Adam through throngs of people. One woman in a revealing blue dress looked at Adam. He turned his head towards her and licked his lips, smiling seductively. She swooned and he chuckled quietly to himself. Blake frowned._

_"Really?" _

_"Can't I have some fun?" He asked teasingly. She was glad he didn't look at her, because his expression had affected her too. She shook it off.__** 'I'm not some shallow girl who's going to fall for anyone giving her a slightly flirtatious look, and I'm not some lovesick teen. Hormones will not get the best of me.' **__She thought. Of course, Adam hadn't been looking at her, a fact which made her feel slightly miffed. However, she was also a bit amused. When Adam was playful, no one was safe from his teasing._

_"Hey. Your name's Junior, right?" He asked. They'd gotten to the man in the suit, who looked at them blankly._

_"She's way too young to be here," he said, indicating Blake._

_"What about those two?" Adam asked, indicating the two doll-like girls on either side of Junior._

_"They're hired help."_

_"Well, Blake here is from the streets. I'm part of a big brother sort of group that teaches young hoodlums to behave like civilized and useful members of society. She's my apprentice," Adam lied. Blake elbowed him._

_"Now Blake, that's the way a bad person acts. You want to be a good person."_

_"Shut up," she spat. He was being a tease, although if he wasn't teasing her, she'd certainly be amused._

_"In all seriousness, we're here for information," Blake said._

_"Information?"_

_"We're with the White Fang."_

_"Sorry, I don't work with terrorists."_

_"Shame. We'll have to force it out of you," Adam said._

_"Go ahead and try," Junior replied. The masked man glanced at the weapon next to the information broker. He punched him in the face and grabbed the bat-like weapon. Blake got out her weapon and unsheathed it, attacking both girls. They jumped back to avoid her strike, leaving Adam plenty of space to pick up Junior and slam his head into the bar. He then tossed the man's body behind the counter, and hurled the man's weapon to the side. People began to run and henchmen began to swarm the two._

_"Remember your training. Don't think. Just fight," Adam said, his hand already on his sword. _

_"I thought violence was for bad people," she joked, taking the opportunity to tease him as he instantly switched from playful to serious. She admired how easily he could alternate between moods. _

_"This isn't the time," he answered. Blake sighed and focused._

_"And I was just getting in a playful mood, too." The two girls jumped back and had the henchmen attack first._

_"Teach them a lesson," the girl in white said, sounding bored but angry. One henchman attacked, and that's when Adam acted. He waited until the man lunged at him to fire his sword, Wilt, from his sheathe, Blush. The handle of the red katana slammed into the underside of the man's chin, and Adam could tell that his jaw had broken. The blade flew into the air and the man flew back, slamming his head into the ground and getting knocked out. Stepping forward to catch his blade, Adam spotted another henchman come at him. He flicked his wrist lazily and his attacker's weapon flew from his hand. Adam then kicked him and he flew back into another enemy. The masked man then sheathed his blade and unsheathed it just as quickly. Another attacker was disarmed, and Adam grabbed the man and threw him into another. He then dashed towards the remaining one and clotheslined him. The man flipped in the air and Adam swiped his foot at the man, kicking him as he fell to the ground. He slammed into the bar. _

* * *

_Blake, meanwhile, dealt with her own enemies. She swung her sheathe at an approaching henchman and knocked him into a wall. She then jumped up and kicked off of another henchman who got close and bounced to another, flipping and then bringing her sheathe down on his head, rendering him unconscious. She turned and dodged a quick strike from a henchman, flipping over him and landing behind him. She knocked him out with her sheathe and turned to me three more henchmen. She sheathed her katana and used the sheathe to knock away an attacker's weapon before drop-kicking him into unconsciousness. She landed on her free hand and flipped up on her feet. The two remaining henchmen attacked, but she dodged their swipes and tripped one of them up, flipping him over on his back. She slammed him into the ground with a quick punch and jumped up, kicking the last henchman into the wall. She looked at Adam, who saw that the DJs had gotten guns. Adam flicked his sword out of its sheathe and slashed the bullets with blinding speed. Blake, meanwhile, unsheathed Gambol Shroud and twirled the sheathe and the katana, knocking away bullets as she did so. When the DJ's were out of ammo, the two jumped at them. Adam dashed up to the platform the DJs stood on and delivered a jarring punch to the stomach of the man in the rabbit mask. He then grabbed him by his shirt collar and hurled him into the bar. Blake flipped up and planted her feet into the face of the man in the green monster mask, knocking him out and kicking his face through the wall. She then did a back handspring off of the platform and landed on the dance floor. Adam leaped off after her and the two found themselves faced with the girls from before._

_"You can't expect to come in here and cause trouble without facing consequences," the girl in the white dress snarled._

_"Shut up, Barbie," Blake snapped, charging at her. The girl jumped and immediately kicked Blake in the face. The girl in red took a slash at her but Blake dodged, falling to the ground to get under the strike. She then rolled onto her feet and slashed. The girl dodged and planted her feet into Blake's chest, kicking her back. Adam caught her and slashed his sword, unsheathing it with incredible speed. The girl blocked it but was sent flying with the force of the blow._

_"They work best together. Separate them," he said. Blake looked on as Adam graciously left the girl in white for her to deal with. The girl in red didn't stand a chance. One strike in and Adam had already sent her flying again. Blake, meanwhile, activated Gambol Shroud's third form. She used the ribbon on her hand like a whip, twirling around the gun-like attachment at its head. She spun and soared through the air, using her agility and the gun's recoil to propel her around, leaving the girl in white with little time and room to dodge. She stepped in and out of Blake's shots, none of which had any killing intent. She kicked the gun-like attachment away when it got too close and wove an intricate web through Blake's attacks, slowly getting closer to the black-haired girl. Blake then changed her tactic, reverting to her sword and sheathe style. The girl in white saw her chance and attacked. Blake twirled her blades and blocked. Her enemy's kicks were forceful. She felt herself weakening with every attack. Looking to make an opening, she jumped back and then sprang forward, catching the girl by surprise. She attacked, swinging her blades as she flew past. She then turned and dashed towards the girl, choosing to get in close yet again. This time, she had the advantage. The girl was caught off-guard. Blake slashed a few times with one of her weapons before switching to the other. It kept the girl on her toes, trying to predict which hand Blake would attack with. Eventually she slipped up, and Blake's katana flew towards her head. However, she stopped it and hit the girl in white with her sheathe instead. She flew into the wall, and Blake dashed up to her, elbowing the girl in the face to make sure she stayed on the ground._

_"Nice work," Adam congratulated. Blake beamed, pride swelling up in her._

_"I did it!" she exclaimed._

_"Yeah, you did just kill the mood. Besides, we've still got work to do," Adam replied. Blake sighed, happy with the praise she'd received. This was the first time she'd took on an opponent with equal skill and Adam didn't intervene. It was as if he knew how strong she had gotten just by looking at her, as if he knew she was good enough to win._

_"Wakey wakey. Now, we need info and we need it now," he said, picking up a groggy Junior. Blake stood behind him as Junior spilled the beans. It had been a good day._

_"Come on, Blake," Adam said. She followed him eagerly._

_"I was afraid my training would never pay off," she said._

_"Don't doubt me," was the joking reply._

* * *

Adam remembered the day well, even better than Junior, Melanie, and Militades did, seeing as how Junior had been unconscious most of the time and the two girls weren't eager to remember the defeat. He remembered how Blake had been then. She was arrogant and antisocial, looking down on most people as shallow, people who couldn't see beneath outside appearances. She was so sure she was better than them all, as someone who could see that there was more to people than their appearance. She wouldn't have dreamed of associating herself with Weiss Schnee, a girl who was looked upon by the White Fang as the shallow offspring of a shallow family. She was admired by many; what she wore, other girls did as well. And there was nothing Blake hated more than those girls, obsessed with their looks and their relationships, girls who had no ambition and drive, girls who were determined to reenforce gender stereotypes. How she'd grown. She was now humble and wary, a person who didn't judge by appearance. She was no longer a hypocrite; she gave the people she used to look down on a chance before immediately writing them off. But Blake still disliked shallow teenage girls. As she was friends with Weiss, Adam could only assume the heiress wasn't one. But despite the fact that she'd changed so much, Blake had never lost her independence, her desire to fight her own fights. Even so, she still had a childish admiration for Adam, and even a little bit of a crush on him. But she'd grown out of it and allowed her desire to grow stronger, to fight her own battles, flourish. Adam supposed that was part of the reason she'd left him.

* * *

**AND DONE! I HOPE PEOPLE LIKE MY INTERPRETATION OF A YOUNGER BLAKE. I MADE HER RATHER ARROGANT AND ANTISOCIAL, SOMEONE WHO HATES JUDGMENTAL PEOPLE, BUT, IN MANY WAYS, WAS ONE HERSELF. I ALSO GAVE HER A CHILDISH CRUSH ON ADAM SIMPLY BECAUSE SHE WAS TOO YOUNG TO FULLY UNDERSTAND HOW SHE FELT TOWARDS HIM. HE'D HELPED HER OUT A LOT OF HER LIFE AND SHE'D GROWN ATTACHED TO HIM. BUT SHE'S ALSO VERY INDEPENDENT, AND I HAVE THE FEELING SHE'S THE KIND OF PERSON WHO HATES TO BE CODDLED AND PROTECTED. ALSO, CHANNELING THE SOCIAL OUTCAST PART OF BLAKE, I FELT THAT, WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG AND IMMATURE, SHE'D BE THE KIND OF PERSON TO HATE THE KINDS OF GIRLS WHO ARE PART OF THE 'POPULAR CROWD' OR WHATEVER. I ALSO SUSPECT SHE'D LOOK DOWN ON ROMANCE AND SUCH THINGS OF THAT NATURE. AND, SEEING AS HOW SHE SUPPORTS FAUNA CIVIL RIGHTS, IT'S EASY TO ASSUME THAT SHE KNOWS THAT ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUAL, REGARDLESS OF SKIN COLOR, SEX, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AND WHETHER THEY HAVE ANIMAL BODY PARTS OR NOT. AS SUCH, I THINK SHE'S A BIT OF A FEMINIST AND MADE HER ONE. IF SHE WASN'T IN RWBY, I THINK BLAKE WOULD MAKE A GREAT PROTAGONIST IN A HIGH-SCHOOL DRAMA WHERE THE UNPOPULAR BUT AWESOME GIRL (BLAKE) GOES UP AGAINST THE POPULAR BITCHES AT HER SCHOOL. AND THERE'S AN IDEA FOR ANOTHER FANFICTION. EXPECT A BLAKE-CENTERED HIGH-SCHOOL DRAMA SOMETIME SOON! **

**ALSO, DID ANYONE GET MY CREEPER REFERENCE?**

**ALSO ALSO, BLAKE IS REALLY BECOMING MORE OF A CENTRAL CHARACTER IN THIS SERIES THAN I THOUGHT SHE'D BE.**


	4. Chapter 4

Adam looked up at the sky. It was coated with red dots fluttering by, but he didn't see them. He was gazing at the sky, but that's not what he was looking at. Adam was looking inward. The White Fang had put him on hold; there were no missions for him to go on. With work out of the question, the man had considered his options carefully before deciding to rest on a large rock in the midst of many red trees. He'd thought about going into town, but he knew the White Fang wanted him somewhere accessible in case something came up. So there he lay, thinking about someone he hadn't given any thought to in a long time: Blake Belladonna.

* * *

It had been at least two months since Adam had stormed Junior's club and beat the information that he wanted out of the informant. These days, the White Fang was mainly in preparation stage, coordinating things with Roman Torchwick. The Dust shipment Junior had been ordered to track down was, apparently, waiting to be deployed for quite a while when the White Fang thought it was already on the move. Consequently, they were set back by the two months since the incident at the club. During that time, Adam had gone on small missions, doing nothing big or exciting. The man grew more bored by the day, his hand twitching every time it neared his sword. As a man who thrived on excitement, Adam wasn't used to laying low. He could do it, just not happily. And so, in an attempt to stave off the boredom, he decided to regale himself with memories of Blake.

* * *

_"You're spinning too much. Always face your enemy," Adam admonished. Blake panted, her blades shining in the sun._

_"How do I do that, huh?" She spat. _

_"Figure it out yourself."_

_"You're really not much of a teacher, are you?" Blake sighed. Adam chuckled._

_"You have two blades, you should figure out how to use them. I don't practice that style."_

_"But you have an idea."_

_"Me telling you how to use your own unique style is like a teacher giving the students answers to the test that's been prepared. I can give you the problem, but you need to find the solution."_

_"I have no idea what you want from me!" The girl cried out angrily. Adam sighed._

_"You're not fighting to impress me. You're fighting to survive. As long as you figure out a way to swing those blades that doesn't make you look like you're having a seizure, you've solved your problem."_

_"Seizure? There's no way I looked _that _ridiculous," Blake scoffed._

_"You did. I was trying not to laugh."_

_"That's a lie!"_

_"My sides were splitting."_

_"Look, just tell me what I want to know!"_

_"You have to find out what you want to know. I can't tell you." Blake glared at him, sheathed her blade into its sheathe._

_"We don't have time for this. We're not at school; we're part of an organization that fights against the law and every battle jeopardizes our lives. I need to know how to survive." _

_"But this is school. It's the school of Adam, and it's always in."_

_"Shut up!" Blake snapped testily. Her mentor smiled. He didn't bother to hide how much fun he was having anymore._

_"I love you too, cupcake," he said. Blake turned around, hiding her face. The words made her blush ever so slightly._

_"Now you're just screwing with me!"_

_"You could always play along," Adam suggested innocently._

_"T-This is so stupid! You're my mentor, you should take me more seriously!"_

_"Maybe you should take me more seriously instead. Instead of fighting me at every turn, you could humor me and take some of my advice to heart."_

_"Like what?!"_

_"Raising your voice in an argument ensures defeat. Always stay calm," Adam said._

_"And this factors into my battle training how, exactly?"_

_"It doesn't. I'm just giving an example. Look, I'm going on a mission in five minutes. When I get back, I expect you to tell me what you're gonna do about your sword problem." Blake opened her mouth to protest, but instead stopped talking and proceeded to think. Adam grinned as he walked away._

* * *

_Adam cursed as the purple energy rained down upon him. He moved around it, using his sword to knock away any of it that got too close. The woman he was fighting stood in front of him, swinging a riding crop and firing purple beams of energy at the vigilante. He turned and ran, and the energy chased him. He found himself running into a wall; the two were fighting in close quarters. He kicked off of the wall and rolled off of his shoulder as he landed after he flipped over the energy. It swerved up and followed him, and this time he ran towards the woman standing ahead of him. A purple energy sigil appeared, and black fog spread from it. Adam unsheathed his blade, slashing faster than the eye could see, and the fog was knocked out of the way by the force of his swing. The woman narrowed her eyes, clearly feeling the pressure. She swung her riding crop back and jumped away from Adam. The ground shattered beneath him and formed small spike piles, and he jumped over one, running past as the ground reformed behind him. The energy followed as well, but his opponent was cornered. She made an energy shield and Adam kept running. He kicked off of the shield and jumped behind her. The energy beams were too slow and slammed into the shield, knocking the woman over. The ground stopped reforming, and Adam ran away from his opponent._

_"Adam! We've done it! You can retreat!" A soldier called out from an opening in the wall created by explosives. The woman got up and fired more energy at Adam, who slashed it away. However, one caught him off-guard and his slash was sloppy. The energy made him stagger, and he had to roll to dodge the next energy beam. He kicked off of the ground and flipped over the beam, running after the soldier. He unsheathed his sword and the sheathe began to change until it looked like a rifle. He fired it at the woman's feet and she stepped back instinctively. She cursed as Adam escaped. She couldn't catch him now. Adam, for his part, regretted not being able to stay and fight the woman. It wasn't every day that someone got to fight one-on-one with Glynda Goodwitch. _

* * *

_As Adam evaded his wily Huntress opponent, Blake was having problems of her own. She had made no progress. She wasn't skilled enough to twirl her blades, and couldn't prevent her body from turning with each of her strikes. Cursing Adam's name, she tried again, and ended up falling down this time. She was getting very, very tired. She wanted to sit down and rest, but she thought of Adam coming back to find her doing nothing. The thought stung, and she kept going, trying to find equilibrium in her strikes. She met failure yet again._

_"I'd like to see him try fighting with two swords," she spat. She swung one of her blades to get a better sense of its weight, and frowned even deeper than she was before._

_"I can swing one fine, why not two? Besides, shouldn't they counterbalance each other?" She mused aloud. She swung her katana over and over, absentmindedly occupying herself while thinking of some sort of technique to use. As she swung her blade one last time, the thought hit her. She used a two bladed style, but there was no rule saying she had to use both blades at the same time. She slashed once with her katana and then shifted her stance, attacking with the other blade. It felt sloppy, but balanced. She could do this. She'd prove it to Adam._

* * *

_"Honey, I'm home," Adam said jokingly. Blake turned red ever so slightly at the words, but he didn't see. She was in the next room, waiting proudly. He cracked his neck, a habit he knew Blake hated, and walked in._

_"So. Have you found your answer?" She puffed out her chest, trying to look impressive._

_"I have," was her confident answer. Adam smiled._

_"You sound sure. Go ahead," he said calmly. And with that, she sprung into action. She held one hand behind her back, and with her free hand, she sliced four times, and then did so with the other hand after switching her position._

_"What do you think?" She asked hopefully. _

_"Huh," was all she got. Blake snarled._

_"Huh? Is that all? Is it?! I worked my butt off trying to think of a way to impress you-" And with that, she stopped. She'd said the wrong thing._

_"That's why you were looking for a new tactic? To impress me? Blake, I'm not worth impressing. Besides, this is survival, right? You said so yourself," Adam told her. She scowled and walked off._

_"Whatever!" She shouted. Adam walked in a different direction._

* * *

_"Are you sure you should just leave her alone?" A soldier asked, the same one Adam had been working with during the mission._

_"I have no idea what her problem is, and she doesn't either. I'm her mentor, not her boyfriend. She can work out her teenage drama by herself."_

_"Okay..."_

_"Don't give me that. You can go talk to her if you're so eager," Adam said. The soldier laughed nervously._

_"Hey, I'm not looking to be a part of this, I'm just surprised you're not with her. Even you can see how much she admires you. You're like her idol."_

_"And that's why I'm not with her. I'm no idol, and one day she'll see that. Blake's gotta walk her own path and learn to idolize no one."_

_"Even so, she did figure out how to use her swords effectively."_

_"She did. I wasn't expecting her to go with the path of least resistance, but she's smart, probably smarter than I give her credit for," Adam said. The soldier began to walk away._

_"When do you think she'll be ready for a mission?" He asked._

_"No idea."_

* * *

**THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL CONTINUE WITH THE FLASHBACK FROM BLAKE'S POINT OF VIEW. AS USUAL, I'D LOVE FEEDBACK. THE MORE I CREATE MY OWN VERSION OF ADAM, THE MORE I WANT HIM TO APPEAR IN THE SHOW SO THAT I HAVE AN ACTUAL PERSONALITY TO WORK WITH AS OPPOSED TO A FEW LINES OF DIALOGUE AND A LOT OF SPECULATION. RIGHT NOW, I REALLY WANT TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK ADAM'S SEEING RED INTO THE STORY, LIKE IN A FLASHBACK. IT SEEMS HIGHLY IMPRACTICAL TO USE WITHOUT SOMEONE TO BUY HIM TIME, BUT HE PROBABLY HAS OTHER POWERS THAT ARE A LOT EASIER TO USE. BESIDES, HOW SEEING RED WORKS IS, LIKE A LOT OF THINGS ABOUT ADAM, PURE SPECULATION.**


	5. Chapter 5

_Blake was unsure what she was feeling. She stood among the red leaves flowing amok through the sky, wondering exactly why she wanted to impress Adam so badly. Adam was cold. He didn't seem to care about anything or anyone, living life in a sociopathic state where he felt nothing for no one. He did what he did because it was necessary to his survival. But he wasn't a sociopath. He cared about things. He cared about battle, and she knew he wanted fauna to have the equal rights they deserve. He was a liberal-minded person, like many at the White Fang. But he was also mysterious, secret. He wasn't someone she wanted to trust, but she couldn't help herself. Adam didn't hide, he didn't order people around. He let them do what they wanted because he knew he had no control over them. Unlike so many people she knew, he merely lived in the shadows. He didn't live by them, and he didn't force others to do the same. And that was his kindness, the kindness of letting people live their own lives. Many people are kind because they help others. Adam was kind because he didn't. To Blake, he was different, so unlike anyone she'd ever known._

* * *

_Blake cursed herself for being such a shallow idiot, being drawn to Adam simply because of his mystery. If she was dead set on being a fool and falling for him simply because she was too young to understand her feelings, she'd do so because she knew who he was, not the other way around. Having had time to calm down, she decided to find Adam and talk to him. She'd find out if she was simply an immature girl with a schoolgirl crush, or if she was an immature girl who felt something real. Blake stalked back into the base, looking for Adam. She found a solider._

_"Excuse me...where can I find Adam?" She asked. The soldier looked at her. _

_"He's in the training room. The one you practiced in," was the answer._

_"Thanks." Blake walked off, hoping he'd still be there. He was._

* * *

_"Hey," Blake said. Adam looked at her._

_"Hey," he replied. She sat down on a nearby bench, watching him cut through the air with vehement glee. His blade whistled as he cut it. His strikes were precise and elegant. He attacked without effort, seamlessly weaving through imaginary enemy after imaginary enemy, envisioning an entire battle scenario in an instant. His mind raced and he processed things with a speed Blake hadn't thought possible. Suddenly, he stopped._

_"So. What are you doing here? You wanna go over your technique?" Adam asked._

_"I want to ask you some questions," Blake replied._

_"Like if I'm single?" He asked. Blake looked down, angry._

_"You're making these jokes on purpose, aren't you?!" She asked, annoyed. Adam certainly was. He'd be an idiot not to pick up on her confused affection._

_"Of course I am. So, Blake, what do you want to ask? A student's gotta know a master just as well as a master's gotta know a student, after all."_

_"Well...why join the White Fang? You're not obsessed with the cause, like a lot of people here...not that I'm saying you don't believe in it, you're just...not as zealous about it."_

_"Why'd you join the White Fang?" He asked her, throwing her question back._

_"I'm asking you a question. I don't want another question in return."_

_"Just tell me, Blake. Why did you join the White Fang?" The girl sighed._

_"I joined because I see what happens to faunas and I want to make things better...and I believe the only way to do that is through force." Adam chuckled. _

_"No personal vendetta?" _

_"My parents are still alive. I don't have any vendetta. I just have a sense of right and wrong."_

_"Interesting."_

_"So, now back to my question," Blake said forcefully._

_"I need money and I need fun. I get both here."_

_"And?"_

_"And what?" Blake sighed. _

_"You're not exactly the deepest of people, but you're not shallow, either. You've got more reason than fun and money to join the White Fang." Adam sighed._

_"You got me. When I was a kid, my parents were members of the White Fang, back when it was peaceful. Then, it changed, and my parents changed with it. Violence overtook them and the organization, and, being an impressionable kid, violence overtook me too. I decided that I'd fight for what I believe, same as you. By the way, they're dead now. My parents."_

_"I'm sorry."_

_"Don't be."_

_"So...you used to be a real maverick, huh?" Blake asked. Adam chuckled. He spun his sword around, now resting in its sheathe._

_"Nope. I've never been very philosophical and, like you said, deep. Survival comes first, belief comes second. I was born into this life, Blake. I wasn't going anywhere."_

_"I should have guessed. No childhood trauma or anything?"_

_"Nope. Real life doesn't work like that. Not everyone's been 'hardened' to the world or whatever bullshit they talk about in those books you read," Adam began. Blake growled. She wasn't keen on people insulting her literature. _

_"I was just born a bit less gung-ho than most," Adam said. Blake chuckled._

_"Wow. I've always been...I guess you could say...enthralled by your air of mystery. I guess there's no real mystery about you at all. What I see is what I get."_

_"That's me. You're different, though. A lot different." Blake said nothing. _

_"Do you really want to impress a guy like me?" Adam asked._

_"Why do you care?" Blake shot back._

_"Because I don't like being looked up to. I don't like being idealized, and that's what you're doing. You're a kid, you don't even understand what you're feeling about me. I don't trust you not to make me into a hero. I'm not a hero, Blake. There are no heroes. If there were, the White Fang wouldn't be here." Blake bit her lip. Adam was probably right._

_"So...no angst or sense of self-loathing?" She asked teasingly. Adam chuckled._

_"Yep. Angst takes too much effort, and I don't see how I could hate this," he said, running a hand through his hair. Blake laughed._

_"You look ridiculous."_

_"I do look ridiculous. Ridiculously sexy," he said. Blake frowned._

_"Why do you do that to me?" She asked, annoyed._

_"Because I can. So, you wanna call it quits for today?"_

_"...I think I want to train more. I want to see what you think about my technique, if that's alright." Adam grinned._

_"That's what I'm here for."_

* * *

Adam sighed. Thinking about those times made his heart fell empty, as if someone had gouged out his insides. There was no sadness, no regret, no nothing. But there was something there. He knew there was. This was what loneliness felt like, and it's what he felt ever since Blake left. He began to walk away from his resting spot and try his luck at buying a drink in a smaller town. However, his presence was wanted elsewhere. His cellphone rang, and he answered it eagerly.

"Adam. We've decided what route we want to take to get to the Dust shipment. It's being sent out tomorrow. We'll email you the coordinates, and we want you back at base. Now." The voice spoke firmly and quickly, and the person it belonged to made sure to hang up immediately after he spoke. Adam opened his email and found the map. Looking at it, his hand gripped the phone tighter. They were passing the ruins of a small town, a town he knew all too well. That town was where Blake changed forever. That town was where her parents died, and, thinking back, that town was when Blake started to go down the path that eventually led her to leave. Adam hated that town.

* * *

**IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I WROTE FOR THIS STORY, BUT I REALLY WANT TO GET TO THE GOOD STUFF, LIKE MORE OF BLAKE'S PAST AND HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. I ALSO WANT TO MOVE ON WITH THE STORY; I WANT THERE TO BE MORE ACTION AND FIGHTING. AND WHO KNOWS? MAYBE, JUST MAYBE...ADAM AND BLAKE ARE GOING TO GET A SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME FIGHT SCENE!**

**ALSO, I NOW KNOW THAT SEASON 1 OF RWBY HAS 16 EPISODES. I REALLY HOPE THAT WE GET TO SEE ADAM IN ONE OF THOSE EPISODES, BECAUSE I'M NOT SURE IF I CAN MANAGE WAITING UNTIL THE SECOND SEASON FOR MY ADAM FIX!**


	6. Chapter 6

Adam sat on the floor of the red forest, contemplating the mission. He didn't want to go. For the first time, Adam didn't want to go on a mission. He didn't think he could handle it, going to Blake's hometown again. Or maybe he could, and he just didn't want to. Adam had absolutely no idea. He was, as he had always been every since Blake left, confused. And that was when the soldier who Adam had worked with all those years ago, who had asked him about Blake, who had fought Glynda Goodwitch with him, sat next to Adam with a pack of beer in each hand.

"Hey, Adam," the soldier said.

"Hey. Come to drink away your nervousness?" Adam asked.

"Nah. I've come to help you drink away yours, buddy." At this, the masked man frowned. He didn't drink. He'd had beer once, and ended up spitting it all over his coat. It was disgusting.

"I don't drink. You know that." The soldier laughed.

"It's not about drinking, it's about unwinding. You don't wanna go to Blake's hometown like this, do you?" He asked, indicating Adam's entire body. The warrior was shaking.

"Blake's moved on, and so will I."

"And this shitty beer will help you do it. Look, I know you're really feeling her absence. You could shrug it off earlier, but as time passed, I guess you've just realized exactly how much she meant to you," the soldier said. He wore a kind smile on his face.

"And you know this how, exactly? Have you been reading my diary?" Adam asked scathingly.

"Nah. I can see it on your face. You spend a lot of time reminiscing, don't you?"

"Seriously, how do you know this shit?"

"Look, Adam, I know that dreamy look you've got on your face half the time. Blake had the same look." Adam barked out an unenthusiastic laugh at the soldier's observation.

"She's really rubbed off on me, then."

"That she has. Beer?" The soldier tossed a can to Adam, who snatched it out of the air without even looking. He stared at the cheap material it was made of and considered chucking it at a nearby tree. However, as he held the cold can in his hands, he moved it around. He heard the sloshing of alcohol inside, and he decided to do it. Adam had finally reached the breaking point. He was more of a sap than he thought. Popping the can open, he took a swig and gagged. The soldier, laughing next to him, had already finished his can.

"How can people drink this crap?!" He coughed, bending over as if he was going to vomit.

"It gets better, trust me. After all, beer's not about the taste, right? Come on. Finish that sucker, and you won't even notice how shitty the second can tastes," the soldier said helpfully.

"What makes you think I'll have a second can of this toxic waste?"

"You need it, Adam. You know you do." Adam took another swig and made a face, but swallowed it without incident.

"Why do you give a damn, anyway? We're not BFF's, we hardly even know each other," he asked. The soldier flashed Adam a smile.

"I'm interested in you. You know, just because you're different. You haven't got any angst or reason for what you do, you just do it because, well, it's what you do. You take the shit life throws at you and keep on moving, and it's easy for you. After all, you are the kind of guy who doesn't give a damn what kind of hand he's been dealt as long as he's got a hand. I guess I'd call you a survivor." Adam chuckled.

"You sure about that? I feel pretty damn angst-y right now. Blake...she meant a lot to me, and I guess it took me a while to understand what her being gone actually meant."

"So you liked her and now you're sad. When someone you love leaves, you're gonna be sad."

"...I think I'm more pissed than anything, really." By now, Adam had finished his first beer and was taking on his second. The soldier was right, after the first one, taste seemed to just fade away.

"Pissed?"

"Yeah. It's hard to accept that she left. I was sad at first and I'm sad now, but, well, I think I channeled some of that sadness into anger. Just so I could cope with it."

"I hear you. Anger's a lot easier to deal with than sadness," the soldier said. He had already finished three beers by now. Adam motioned to the can in his hand.

"You an alcoholic or something?" Adam normally never would have asked such a question, but the beer made him feel different, more relaxed and talkative. He wondered why he didn't try this earlier.

"I think that's what it's called. That is the thing where you drink a lot of beer, right?" The soldier rambled.

"Uh, yeah, I think that's it."

"Yeah, I guess it is. Started a few years back after my husband died. That's what got me into this whole fauna civil rights thing. I was a big gay rights activist, because, well, I'm all for equal rights. And I'm gay, too. Then I saw that faunas were taking a lot of shit, so I decided to join the White Fang, you know, because equality mean something to me, and here I am. Life really is crazy, huh?" The soldier explained. Adam clapped him on the back.

"Damn, that sucks. Sorry about that." After his third beer, Adam was feeling really odd. His speech became informal and he felt as if his body was being controlled by an outside force. Either this was strong beer or Adam couldn't hold his liquor to save his life.

"Yeah...guess that raises a lot of interesting questions as to why I'm interested in you, huh?" The soldier asked half-jokingly.

"Nah. You're not moving on anytime soon. You know, sentiment and all that jazz," Adam replied.

"Yeah, sentiment. It can be kind of a pain, huh?"

"It's not so bad, really, not when you get used to it." The soldier and Adam clinked cans in an attempt to cheer, but it was poorly executed and Adam ended up spilling his drink all over the soldier.

"You're gonna get it now..." The soldier said, and he splashed his drink on Adam.

"Gimme another one," he demanded.

"So you can splash me?"

"Uh...no?" The soldier then grabbed the beer packs and began to run. Adam got up shakily and chased him, grabbing one of the packs. The soldier took out a can and so did Adam. The two circled each other, threatening to splash, before feeling woozy. They sat down reluctantly and began to drink again.

* * *

"Blake would have a fit if she saw me drinking. She hated beer. Still does, probably. I kept telling her I'd give her a taste when she turned 18...she did not like that idea, lemme tell you," Adam said, his words slurring together. The soldier lay down next to him, nodding.

"Sounds like you were trying to get her drunk. Guess your girlfriend caught on, huh?" He asked. Adam made a face and playfully hit the soldier, who grabbed his shoulder and groaned.

"That's just fucked up. Fucked up. We did not have that kind of relationship," Adam said.

"Fuck me, that hurt," the soldier moaned.

"Suck it up."

"You suck it up."

"No, you."

"You."

"You...what were we talking about again?" Adam asked.

"I dunno. More beer?"

"Fuck yeah." A string of profanity followed as the two men drank their worries away. Well, at least Adam did. He still had no idea if the soldier was sad, nervous, or just really nice.

"So...how'd your husband die?" Adam asked after the two men had grown bored of cursing each other out. The soldier furrowed his brow.

"Car accident. Not a pretty sight."

"How'd you fare?"

"Let's just say that I used to be way uglier than I am now. Guess that fucking crash was good for something," the soldier said darkly. He then lightened up.

"I hear Blake's at Beacon," he said.

"Yeah, she is. She's off making friends and having the time of her fucking life while I sit here and wish she hadn't left. Seriously, do you think she even occasionally remembers the guy who taught her how to swing a hunk of metal around?" Adam snarled. The soldier chuckled nervously.

"Blake's not shallow and petty. She loves you and you love her. I'd bet money that she hasn't forgotten you...and she hasn't forgiven herself for leaving you behind." Adam laughed. His voice was loud but uneven, as if he couldn't decide the volume he wanted to speak at.

"Yeah, you're right. Blake wouldn't do that. She's a damn good person...I just get mad sometimes, you know? I just think of how she gets a little support group at Beacon and I've got jack shit, and then I get pissed because I don't want jack shit. I just want her back. I can't have her back, though. She's not a borrowed book, she's a living being, and she's the only one who can decide what she wants to do and where she wants to be, but goddamn, it still hurts."

"Well, I gotta give you props for letting her run off like that. Not many people can respect that the one they love doesn't wanna be with them," the soldier said. Adam ruffled his hair playfully.

"I've got no say in her life. And besides, making her stay kinda goes against everything I believe in as a member of the White Fang."

"I thought you didn't like beliefs."

"I'm a fucking hypocrite, who isn't?" The soldier laughed.

"True that, buddy. Fucking hypocrites till the end, that's us."

"Sure is." The men stopped talking, and simply looked up to the sky. For the first time after Blake left, Adam felt content. He felt free of worry and anger and sadness and everything he felt when he thought of Blake Belladonna. He could now talk about her, tell stories about her that he treasured, without wanting to rip his mouth off.

"Did I tell you about the time my husband hit on another guy, thinking it was me?" The soldier asked.

"Nah. Let's hear it. After this, I gotta tell you about when Blake accidentally read an erotic novel."

"Sounds good. Story swap! So, we were at this bar..."

* * *

Adam woke up with a massive headache. It was dark out, and the soldier lay next to him. Beer cans littered the ground beneath them. Adam grabbed the man and carried him back to base.

"This fucker better know where I can get some hangover medicine..."

* * *

**AND THAT WRAPS UP THIS CHAPTER. ADAM TALKED TO SOME RANDOM NAMELESS GUY, GOT DRUNK, AND DROPPED THE F-BOMB MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP AND WAKING UP WITH A HANGOVER. THAT'S SOMETHING NEW. ANYWAY, THIS CHAPTER WAS REALLY JUST MEANT TO BE A NICE LITTLE SCENE ESTABLISHING ADAM'S RELATIONSHIP WITH SOMEONE WHO ISN'T BLAKE AND HAVING HIM DEAL WITH SOME OF HIS ISSUES THROUGH THE HEALING POWER OF BEER. I ALSO WANTED AN EXCUSE TO HAVE ADAM SAY FUCK MULTIPLE TIMES. REVIEWS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME, NOT JUST BECAUSE I WANT THE CRITICISM, BUT ALSO BECAUSE I WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE. I'M IN THE MOOD TO RAMBLE.**

**I FEEL THAT BLAKE IS SOMETHING OF A CRUTCH TO ADAM, SOMEONE WHO HELPED HIM OUT A LOT AND WHO HE HAS NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITHOUT. I DON'T THINK HE'S BECOME DEPRESSED AND SUICIDAL BY HER HAVING LEFT HIM OR ANYTHING DRAMATIC LIKE THAT, BUT I DO THINK THAT HE'S DEALING WITH THE FACT THAT HE RELIED ON HER A LOT, AND NOW THAT SHE'S GONE, HE'S GOT NO SUPPORT SYSTEM TO FALL BACK ON. I'M GIVING HIM ONE IN THE FORM OF A NAMELESS ALCOHOLIC SOLDIER, BUT I DON'T THINK HE'S GOT ONE IN THE CANON WORLD OF RWBY, AND SO WHEN HE APPEARS IN THE SHOW, I'D LOVE TO SEE HOW HIS ISSUES WITH BLAKE MANIFEST THEMSELVES. HONESTLY, ADAM SEEMS LIKE A VERY MATURE CHARACTER FOR A FAMILY-FRIENDLY SHOW LIKE RWBY, WHICH INCREASES MY BELIEF THAT RWBY WILL START OUT LIGHTHEARTED AND BECOME VERY DARK (STORY-WISE, THAT IS. I DON'T THINK THEY'RE SUDDENLY GOING TO START CURSING OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT) AS THE SHOW GOES ON, DEALING WITH DEPRESSING THEMES AND THROWING A LOT OF CHALLENGES AT OUR HEROINES, AND THAT'S WHEN ADAM'S GOING TO MAKE HIS APPEARANCE. AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT I THINK. RWBY HAS ALWYS BEEN INTERESTING AND UNIQUE FOR A SHOW WITH SUCH A CLICHE PREMISE, AND I THINK THAT AS IT GROWS DARKER THAT UNIQUE-NESS AND ABILITY TO TAKE THINGS AND CHARACTERS THAT SEEM VERY OVERUSED AND MAKE THEM INTO ORIGINAL IDEAS WILL REALLY GET A CHANCE TO SHINE. **


	7. Chapter 7

Adam wasn't a sentimental man. At least, that's what he thought until Blake left. With the one person he truly cared about gone from his life, Adam found that he spent a lot of time reminiscing. Some of his memories were pleasant ones, others not so much. He'd like to forget where things went wrong. He'd like to act as if Blake had never seen him the way she saw him on the day her parents died. He wished he'd been there to save them, and he wished that Blake had never come on that mission and seen what the White Fang had become. He had no idea why. He really didn't. He knew Blake would find out eventually. She couldn't be blinded to the truth forever. She'd been with the White Fang since she was very young, when it was peaceful. Adam joined when it got violent. She knew far more than he did, and could easily see the changes being made. But wishing made people think stupid things, and Adam wished a lot of stupid things these days.

* * *

"We're here," the faunus said. Adam cringed. He glared at the burnt ruins of the town that was once Blake's home. Behind him, soldiers poured in, stopping for the night. They set up tents and made fires, traveling on the ground so as to avoid attention from the soldiers guarding the Dust shipment they were going to attack. Adam didn't join them. He made his way to the ruins of a house that used to be bright red and one mere story high. He hated that house, and he hated the ground it stood on. It made him think of things he'd much rather forget. It was one of those memories that would cause him pain, one of the memories he didn't want to have. Even so, he was drawn to the area. Maybe he was just so desperate to cling to Blake's memory, he would endure anything.

* * *

_"You sure you wanna go on a mission here? Your parents could be seen as distractions," Adam said absentmindedly. Blake sighed._

_"Look. I haven't seen them in a while, and I want them to know that things are going fine for me. I haven't died or anything. I'm still their daughter," she told Adam._

_"I take it you don't write to them."_

_"I don't have time."_

_"I could write to them in your place. How well do you think I could copy your handwriting?" Adam asked. Blake smiled one of her small smiles, the smiles Adam had become so familiar with, and he knew that it meant even more than a full-blown grin._

_"I've seen you write. I can hardly read your three-letter words. Good luck trying to copy my writing."_

_"I can practice. I have tons of free time."_

_"Right, because you don't have any letters to write yourself."_

_"Yep. No parents, and no relatives whose guts I don't hate. Well, at least I have a sarcastic friend."_

_"Yeah, that's me. Sarcastic."_

_"Wasn't that sarcasm?"_

_"Sure it was."_

_"That was sarcasm too."_

_"You pushed my buttons." Adam and Blake chuckled before walking off to the center of town to get their orders._

* * *

_"Alright. Squad A, take the front gate. B, evacuate the houses within a mile of A and use them as bases to ambush the soldiers. C, take the back. You'll act as a backup. Adam and Blake, you do whatever the hell you want until we need you. You're our secret weapons and we're gonna need you if things get bad," the head faunus said._

_"Why not just use us to wipe out the whole damn army?" Adam asked. Some soldiers murmured their agreements, but most were ready to die for their beliefs._

_"Because I'd like to see you try wiping out a small army with just the two of you. Neither or you are that good, together or separate."_

_"...Fine. I guess we'll keep in touch?" Adam asked, slightly disappointed. _

_"Yes. Keep your cellphones on." With that, Blake hurried off with Adam following suit. They made their way through building after building until they reached one of the town's smallest houses. Only one story, it made up for its small stature with a flashy appearance. It was completely scarlet. Even the windows were tainted red. The door, however, was black. Blake knocked and sighed nervously. Adam hung back a few feet behind her, stoic and unmoving. The door opened, and Blake threw herself at the woman who stood before her._

_"Mom!"_

* * *

_"It's been a while. It looks like you're not as mellow as I've been hearing. Have you been giving your partner trouble?" Blake's mother asked kindly, with a hint of playfulness in her voice that Adam knew she passed down to her daughter. Adam saw that she also passed down her looks. Her eyes were the same yellow color, and her hair was the same shade of black. While Blake's mother had short hair, Adam had no doubt that if her hair should grow, it would look like her daughter's. Her clothes were plain; she wore a white dress and brown loafers, but in a twist, had an eye patch on her left eye. That caught Adam off-guard._

_"She's been a peach," he said._

_"Really?" Mrs. Belladonna asked._

_"A rotten peach," Adam replied. Both mother and daughter chuckled before Blake fixed him with a playful glare. Adam grinned._

_"In all seriousness, working with your daughter has been a great experience. She learns fast," he said. _

_"She does," Mrs. Belladonna agreed._

_"Could you stop talking like I'm not even here? I'm not that quiet," Blake said. _

_"Of course, honey. Anyway, I'm sure your father would love to see you. He's in the dining room," her mother told her. Blake beckoned for Adam to follow, and Mrs. Belladonna led the two through the house. The walls on the inside were a large contrast to the outside of the home. They were startlingly white. Like the outside, however, the rooms were small but stood out. There were books everywhere, and strange models and sculptures sitting on wooden tables. A piano lay in the corner of the living room, the first room they passed to the dining room. In the dining room, a man in a wheelchair was reading a large tome. He wore a black shirt that was too large, had black hair that was lighter than his wife's and daughter's, and wore ratty jeans and had on cracked glasses. He had blue eyes, which were strange to compare to the eyes of his family._

_"Blake...I'm so glad you're back," he said. Blake ran to her father and embraced him._

_"Dad! ...Hey, are you still reading that?" She asked._

_"I am," was the reply._

_"You were reading that when I last visited. How long does it take you to finish a book?"_

_"I don't have your memory. I have to let a book linger before finishing it," Mr. Belladonna told his daughter. He then looked at Adam and smiled warmly._

_"So you're the man who's been training Blake. If we weren't inside, I'd ask for a demonstration," he said. Adam saw the same kindness in him that his wife possessed, but he seemed to lack his family's playful, joking manner. Instead, he spoke with honesty and kindness, not caring what his voice betrayed._

_"If you have any furniture you need doing away with, we could give you a demonstration inside," Adam said. Mr. Belladonna laughed._

_"My wife's sculptures are awfully spacious."_

_"No less than your books. You've finished all of them, you know. I still work with my models."_

_"A scholar doesn't destroy his collection." Both husband and wife laughed, and Blake smiled, glad to see her family. They hadn't changed a bit._

_"If you want a reunion with just the three of you, I understand," Adam said gruffly. He liked Blake's parents, but still wanted to leave nonetheless. He wasn't sure why, he just felt like he was intruding. He wasn't sure he felt at ease with people like them, people with genuine kindness. Adam could act, but he wasn't really sure what the real thing felt like. At least, not unless he was with Blake. He had the same feeling about her parents, and, like his first meeting with Blake, it made him feel uncomfortable. He felt like an uninvited guest._

_"Not at all! We want to know what kind of man is looking after our daughter. We can't have some lowlife teaching our precious little girl," Mrs. Belladonna teased._

_"Like I need this guy to teach me anything," Blake said jokingly._

_"I might need to teach you some manners," Adam replied, not wanting to say anything too genuine. He felt more comfortable with jokes._

_"That's rich, coming from you."_

* * *

_"It's...I mean, I can't believe how little you've changed. Everything's just like I remember it...well, mom made some new sculptures, but aside from that...it's all the same," Blake said. The four all sat in the living room, having brushed all the books from the couch and chairs. Adam took a chair, Blake and her mother sat on the couch. Blake's father had his wheelchair._

_"You haven't changed much either. At least, personality-wise. You look different, and you even act different. More controlled, I'd have to say. It looks like Adam helped with more than just your sword skills," Mr. Belladonna said._

_"I guess I am more aware of myself, yeah."_

_"And you're taken to wearing a bow over your ears," Mrs. Belladonna told her daughter._

_"...I'm not proud of that. I don't want to hide who I am," Blake said. Her mother put a hand on her shoulder._

_"We know. You're not ashamed, and you shouldn't be. All faunus should be proud of who they are...unfortunately, not all of us see it that way."_

_"I just need it for missions. That's all. Like if I'm going incognito."_

_"That's smart. I don't support it, but if you're going to fight, you might as well pull out all the stops to keep yourself alive," Mr. Belladonna said. He and his wife knew that full well._

_"You sound like you know from experience. Have you two fought in wars?" Adam asked. Blake had encouraged him to get to know her parents, and he didn't see any other option for him but to ask personal questions, as the conversation was moving away from jokes._

_"Yes, we have. It's why my husband lost the use of his legs and why I'm missing an eye. I used to tell Blake I was a pirate who sailed the seven seas. She believed it until a few years ago," Mrs. Belladonna told Adam. Blake sighed._

_"I was young and impressionable," she said._

_"Anyway, we fought against local soldiers who were oppressing the fauna of this town. We helped liberate it, but at a price. It's funny how we take our legs for granted," Mr. Belladonna expanded. Adam was impressed. Blake's parents seemed very forthcoming about their injuries, not embarrassed by or sensitive to the topic. They really weren't ashamed of who they were or who they'd become. Blake was the same. So was Adam. _

_"Wow. Impressive. Did Blake get her dual sword style from one of you?" Adam asked._

_"I inspired her to do that. My wife fought with a gun," Mr. Belladonna answered._

_"She took some inspiration from me as well. Don't take all the credit," Mrs. Belladonna teased. _

_"You can both say you made me who I am, literally and figuratively, okay?" Blake told them, chuckling._

_"And what about me?" Adam asked playfully._

_"For you, let's just stick to the figurative sense," Blake responded. At this, everyone laughed. Adam felt himself grow more at ease. The Belladonna family was very charming, and he found himself, just a little bit, wanting them to like him. However, it wouldn't last. Adam's phone rang, and he knew he had work to do. He and Blake had been talking longer than they thought._

_"We have to go," Adam said stoically, waving before exiting the house. Blake got up, but her mother stopped her._

_"Blake, wait. Are you sure you want to do this? Do you really want to fight?" She asked._

_"Yes. Yes I do. Peace hasn't solved anything. I know that now. What we have to do is really make a difference. Force is how the White Fang can accomplish that." Blake's father sighed._

_"Very well. We admire your determination and conviction, but please...take what we say seriously. We've seen battle, and if doesn't solve problems, at least not the way the White Fang thinks it does. You can't fight fire with fire." Blake listened to her parent's pleas and walked away._

_"I appreciate your concern, but I need to do this. Adam and the White Fang are counting on me. Mom, dad...I'm glad you respect my decision. Bye. I love you." _

_"We love you too." Blake hugged her parents and ran to the door just as Adam came in to tell her to hurry up. He ran off, and Blake followed. Looking back, Adam would wonder what Blake and her parents were talking about. He would never ask her._

* * *

_The screams of death permeated the air just as much as its stench. Bodies lay on the ground, both human and faunus alike. However, it was clear who had the upper hand. The humans had superior weaponry, and even with the carefully planned strategies of the faunus, their enemies had the sheer power to overcome them. However, Adam and Blake weren't called secret weapons for nothing. But, when the two came out to face their human adversaries, they were met with jeers. _

_"They send a kid and some guy with a mask? Just when I thought these animals couldn't get any dumber," a soldier said. Adam held Blake back from jumping him on the spot. She clenched her teeth._

_"Baring your fangs, huh? Like it even matters. Why don't you run away before you join the rest of the filth in their graves? Not that we'd take the trouble to bury your kind or anything," the same soldier said. Adam sighed and let Blake go. He knew that holding her back any longer would torture her. _

_"Still so impulsive..." He muttered, watching as Blake's foot collided with the soldier's head. He flew into his comrades, and those that weren't knocked out found themselves at Blake's mercy. They tried swarming her, but she moved with such speed that she created after images of herself, and they had no idea which image was a reality. Blake then took care of them, winding in and out of the soldiers, using the hand-to-hand combat skills Adam had taught her. She flipped, kicked, punched, and threw any soldier she could get her hands on. Adam, on the other hand, walked away, admiring his pupil's handiwork.  
_

_"Can you handle things here?" Adam asked. Blake, who was in the process of repeatedly punching the man who had insulted faunus in the face, turned to face her mentor.  
_

_"Sure. Where are you going?" _

_"To find a challenge."_

* * *

_Adam walked past countless unconscious bodies as Blake dashed around the soldiers who still stood. She flitted around the battlefield like an elusive shadow, striking fear into the hearts of the soldiers who knew they were her next target. She took the 'from shadows' motto the White Fang used to heart. Adam was less subtle. He approached a large group of robots who looked at him with empty eye sockets carved into empty black shells. Adam was glad to have found something he could use his sword on.  
_

_"Target identified as a faunus. Begin commencing extermination protocol," the head robot said.  
_

_"With pleasure," Adam snarled. He readied his sheathe, and Wilt shot from Blush with alarming speed. The robot, who was roughly the size of a large human, flew backwards into the air from the force of the impact. Adam was already upon him, grabbing his sword backhand and ripping it through the robot's metal skin, arcing his blade downward in a dramatic flourish. Two halves of the same robot fell in front of him. Three more robots charged, their hands turning into blades and their shoulders turning into turrets that fired rapidly at their target. Adam twirled Wilt and blocked the bullets, waiting for the robots to get close. When one set its foot within dashing range, Adam acted almost instantly. He brought his blade around his body and decapitated the robot, and then turned around and whipped his sword horizontally across another robot's chest. The slash didn't even slightly divert from its path, going in a perfectly straight line. Adam let his sword arm flow freely, using it as an extension of his blade, and the blade as an extension of his body. For the final robot of the three, Adam simply turned Blush around, now in gun form, and fired it. The robot was reduced to scrap metal. Not even half a second had passed, and three robots lay broken at Adam's feet. The rest, unburdened by fear, charged the wild red-haired soldier, who grinned ever so slightly before sheathing Wilt into Blush. However, as soon as the tip of his sword touched the bottom of his sheathe, Adam ripped the blade out again, his arm seeming to barely move, if it even seemed to move at all. His strikes transcended spacial restrictions and hit from a ways away. Metal heads flew into midair, some even knocking robots behind them in their heads and causing them to fall to the ground in a clumsy mess. However, most of the robots were as coordinated and sleek as the three before them, and Adam ran into the middle of the metal onslaught. He cut straight across one robot's neck, his momentum carrying him so that his sword cut through the necks of four other robots as well. Adam then stopped himself and turned, ripping his blade upward in a curved strike mimicking the rising of a bird's wing. A robot was cut completely in half. He then cut furiously in a diagonal pattern, stepping forward as he massacred the robots in his path. As he ripped apart the enemies in front of him, he dodged strikes from those behind, planning on saving them for later. However, he didn't have to.  
_

_"Miss me?!" Blake shouted over the sounds of metal cutting through metal, slicing her two swords in curved arcs, letting their momentum carry her forward as she brought them around her body, twirling and dashing forward with intense, graceful movements. The robots behind Adam were all but finished, and he was done with his batch just as Blake ended hers._

_"Move back. See if any ran past us in the midst of the fight. Also, don't take my kills," Adam said seriously, although the last part had more of a laid-back feel._

_"I can't make any promises," Blake teased. She nodded in response to Adam's first order and dashed off to find any soldiers or robots who had gotten past._

* * *

It was at this point of his reminiscing that Adam had to take a break. What happened next wasn't pleasant, and he needed to set up his tent besides.

"Here he goes, the lone wolf. Ever get tired of moping all day? Get over her, there are plenty of other fish in the sea," a soldier mocked as he walked past. Adam wouldn't take such vulgarity kindly. He turned to face the soldier and smiled.

"Blake's underage. What are you implying?" He asked. The soldier turned pale.

"N-Nothing!"

"I think you were implying something. And I don't like it."

"I-I'm sorry!"

"No you're not. But you will be if I catch you talking about Blake that way ever again." Adam didn't even look back as he walked off, still grinning. He loved freaking out the other soldiers, scared of him as they were. His reputation had perks. However, it wasn't just amusement that spurred Adam to toy with that particular soldier. It was rage. Adam felt a fire burning in his head. A bright, angry flame. That soldier had no idea what Blake meant to him. No one did, and no one ever would. They'd never understand. At least, that's what the fire seemed to imply. Adam shook it off, not caring for such melodrama. He was a far more cynical man than that. He ran his hand through his hair, lingering a second longer than normal. He didn't like what his mind was doing to him. Ever since Blake left, he noticed it. He noticed the feeling that not all of his thoughts were his, and what's more, they were thoughts he was perfectly fine with.

* * *

Adam lay on his cot, his small tent covering him from the rain that had only just started to pour. Lulled to sleep by the patter of the water on his tent sheet, he had no trouble dozing off. However, he soon wished he could wake up as easily as he fell asleep. Maybe it was something psychological, like his subconscious mind wasn't done with his memory of Blake yet, but he found himself dreaming of the day when, in retrospect, everything changed.

* * *

_The fire rose high into the sky, smoke drifting even higher above that. The instant Adam saw it, he knew where it was coming from. Blake's house, and consequently, her parents, were in that area. Adam ran in the direction of the blaze, fear gripping his heart, but it wasn't fear for Blake's parents. It was fear for Blake herself. He ran, jumping through any houses in his way, too focus to go around them. He soon found his partner, who was in the process of running through the burning house. The door lay on the ground, and Adam crushed it in his efforts to get to Blake.__  
_

_"Come back here!" He roared._

_"My parents are in there! They could die!" Was the reply._

_"And so could you!" Adam tried grabbing Blake by her shirt, but she ducked under his hurried grab and ran to the dining room. Seconds later, when Adam found her, Blake was blinking back tears. Standing at the entrance, she saw that her father's head had been crushed by a plank that had fallen from the ceiling. His hair was matted with blood, and it was clear that his head was dented. More blood poured onto the table from his head.  
_

_"Dad...dad...what is this? Dad!" Blake ran to him, ignoring the embers of the fire that got onto her clothes and rapidly spread. Adam lunged at Blake and pulled her back, patting out the fire on her clothes. Her skin was slightly burnt, but the pain meant little compared to the emptiness in her heart.  
_

_"Dad! Dad! Adam, let me go!" She screamed. Times like these made Adam wish that Blake was better at controlling her emotions. It was easy to rile her up, make her do something crazy. _

_"He's dead!" Adam screamed back. Blake ignored him, as someone appeared who was far more deserving of her attention than Adam._

_"Mom! Mom! Get out of here!" She shouted._

_"And you do the same!"_

_"Not without you!" Mrs. Belladonna was silently crying, both at her husband's death and her daughter's stubbornness. _

_"I need to get something! I promise, I'll make it out. Adam, take Blake and run-" Blake's mother was cut off as an entire section of the roof collapsed on top of her. Blake didn't even scream regular words. She just screamed. Her voice was ear-splitting, but Adam knew she needed to let it out. However, she didn't need to elbow Adam in the side and run towards her mother's hand, still stuck out of the rubble.  
_

_"Blake!" Adam roared, and stepped under a falling wall to get to her. She cradled her mother's hand and reached to grab her father's, as he had been buried as well. However, more of his body was showing. She didn't have long to hold her parents, as Adam snatched her up and hurled her through a wall and out of the house. He heard her coughing, screaming, and crying in the distance as she ran back to the wall. Adam jumped out and held her back, lifting her into the air again and carrying her, over his shoulder, far away from the house as it was destroyed by the flames. Adam hacked and wheezed, using his free hand to pound into his chest in an effort to elicit a more furious cough out of him. He tried desperately to ignore Blake. Her noises tore at his heart. She cried, and he could feel tears drip down his back. Her sobs mixed with her furious screams, which eventually turned into curses at Adam. He grunted as her fists collided with his back. Mixed in with her screams and sobs were furious coughs, often interrupting her cursing and forcing her to stop hitting Adam. Her furious coughing was almost too much for her. She began to drool, unable to control her body due to the sheer amount of concentration she was putting on cursing, screaming, crying and trying to hold back her coughs all at the same time. Looking back, Adam would cringe every time he remembered her suffering. Hearing those noises was the closest he'd ever come to being made to cry. At least, it was until Blake left.  
_

* * *

_Blake leaned against one of the few houses that remained standing. The White Fang had sorely underestimated the sheer amount of soldiers that would be attacking, and nearly every faunus who had been fighting was slain. The humans were burning houses, but not before looting them and abducting any women, and sometimes men, that they could find, leaving or killing the children. It was a macabre show, a display of human misery and hatred and greed and lust and sadism. Adam sat next to Blake, who had now moved past screaming and was simply sitting there in shock, absolutely motionless. She was mute to the cries of the faunus. Her own personal tragedy had consumed her. Adam, while he could hear the cries, did nothing. Blake was far more important. He wasn't sure what to do with her, however. Surprisingly, out of awkwardness and desperation to console her, he draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. Even more surprisingly, Blake allowed him to do so, and what's more, returned his hug of sorts, moving her arm around his waist.  
_

_"I'm sorry I yelled at you. It wasn't your fault," she said softly._

_"Don't apologize. Don't ever apologize. You have every right to be mad," Adam told her.  
_

_"...I'm not mad," she replied. Adam curled his mouth into a strange snarl, surprised and confused._

_"Why not?"_

_"Being mad won't bring them back. Nothing will. Nothing..." Blake tried to say more, but fell back into sobs. She hadn't quite cried her fill yet. Adam held her closer and sighed._

_"Damn..." He muttered to himself. Up above him was a ship deploying more soldiers, right on Adam and Blake's position._

* * *

_"Surrender now, freaks, and we won't give you to the raiding party!" A woman shouted fiercely, holding a gun in her hands that pointed directly at Adam's head.  
_

_"Leave," was Adam's simple reply. The woman looked at Blake._

_"Why? You want to protect this brat here? She looks like she'd be better off dead."_

_"I said leave."_

_"And I asked why." Adam stood up, gently resting Blake's head on the ground. She looked around her, but only had the strength to push herself into a sitting position._

_"Adam..." She muttered._

_"Don't move," he said. His hand was on his sword, but he knew he was dead. The ship had amazing firepower, so while he could defeat the ground units with ease, he'd be blown to smithereens before he even had a chance to look up. And so would Blake. He couldn't do anything, no matter how tough he tried to seem. Blake didn't have the will to fight, and Adam didn't have the way. _

_"If you're too stupid to give me an answer, I guess you've lost your chance for input. Screw surrender, we're killing the girl, but only main the guy. I want him for myself!" The woman shouted. The rest of the soldiers cheered, and Adam's grip on his sword tightened. And at that instant, when everything he knew was about to end, he saw something. He saw red.  
_

* * *

_Adam's mask began to glow with an eerie red light. His body radiated scarlet energy, energy that whipped and whirled around him, turning into a energy maelstrom. It rose to the sky and pierced through the ship. An explosion lit up the sky, and Blake managed to stand in her shock. She said nothing. She couldn't form any words. She'd been through too much.  
_

_"You know why I won't surrender? You know why I'm going to fight?!" Adam shouted, his scowl from before turning into a grin._

_"Because I want you to die. I want you all to die slowly and painfully and all the while begging for my mercy! And you know what I'll say?!" He asked again. The soldiers were too scared to answer._

_"I'll say no. I'll look into your eyes and say no, over and over and over, as I rip you apart! Eyahahahahahaha!" Adam felt the words leave his mouth, he felt them tear themselves from a long dormant part of his mind and strike the air. But he didn't feel himself try to say them. He didn't feel anything. He felt like someone else was feeling for him and telling him how everything was, what was going on. He didn't feel right. He felt trapped. His grin wasn't his. His fury wasn't his. But his power was his, and so were the black spots in his head. He felt like he was slipping, like he was losing his grip on his mind. He was falling into shadow. He felt his body move and he reached for his sword as the energy began to spread, turning the whole world red. Silhouettes were all he saw before him, meaningless black specks that he would destroy. At least, that's what he was being told to feel. He arched his back and let loose another horrible laugh before cutting space itself, ripping a slash of pure energy through the red. Black energy, jagged and active, ripped across everything. It crawled rapidly across the red, furiously across the silhouettes. The jagged energy writhed with glee. And then it faded. The black turned to red, the silhouettes turned to corpses, and the red turned to rose petals, flying across the sky. Adam fell to his knees, grinning so hard that his face hurt.  
_

_"Eyahahahahahaha! Eyahahahahahaha! EYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed. Feeling began to return to him. He started to feel free, liberated, alive. His fury was real, his grin was real. He was in control, and he liked it. However, it all faded just as quickly as it had come._

_"Adam!" Blake shouted, waking him up. He ceased to laugh and fought to turn his grin into a scowl as he turned around._

_"Blake...I'm sorry."_

_"You don't have to be. Just...please don't do that again. I can't lose another loved one today," she said, embracing him. As she hugged him, Adam began to feel like himself again. The insanity and rage he had previously felt were gone. He was Adam, and Blake had saved him from himself. What part of himself, he had no idea._

* * *

_It had been a week since the invasion of the small town, a week since Blake's parents had died, a week since Adam had found his inner demons. The two hadn't gone on any missions, and Blake spent most of her days reminiscing about her parents, telling anyone who would listen, mostly Adam, about how great they were and what kind of things they did. She cried every time. However, there was one day when she stopped. There was one day when she stopped crying, one day when she decided that it was time to move on. It was abrupt, too abrupt for Adam's liking. He asked her what was wrong. The answer was surprising.  
_

_"My parents sent me letters that the White Fang kept from me because they were too...different from what the White Fang believed...and still believes today. I read them, and it felt like I was talking to them again, saying the goodbye I never got to say. Those letters taught me a lot."_

_"Like what?" Adam asked dubiously._

_"...I don't know yet. I just know that I feel changed. Different. Stronger, even. But I do know one thing I learned about myself."_

_"And what's that?" Adam asked. Blake looked up proudly, smiling at Adam with warmth._

_"That I'd rather be loved than feared. I think that's what my parents wanted for me, too," she said. Adam looked interested. He didn't know where this was going, but he kind of wanted to find out.  
_

_"And what does that have to do with, well, anything?" He asked._

_"What do you think the White Fang used to believe? What do you think they used to stand for before all this...violence?" She asked in response._

_"Uh..." Adam paused, not sure how to answer._

_"...I guess peace?"_

_"You're right, but that's not the answer I was looking for. I was looking for kindness. They used to believe in kindness," Blake said passionately.  
_

_"The violence the White Fang has resorted to is working. Humans are treated faunus with more respect. Why do you think that is?" She asked Adam, who shrugged._

_"No idea."_

_"Because they're afraid. Because they're oppressed and beaten and killed, just like the faunus. As my parents told me, you can't fight fire with fire. You'll only empower the flames." Blake walked away mysteriously, waving to Adam as she left._

_"Hey, where are you going?" He asked. What she said distressed him. He didn't care what she thought of the White Fang, but all the talk about fear made him think of how she felt when he went crazy back at the town. Maybe he taught her the consequences of respect through fear, and maybe she was never going to look at him the same. However, his fears were put to rest. Blake looked back and smiled, her eyes piercing his just as they did before._

_"On a solo mission. I want to try it out before going back to work with you. After all, I have to redeem myself for how helpless I was back at the town," she said. Adam grinned back, and waved. He thought nothing had changed, even if she didn't care as much for the White Fang. He thought she'd worked past her sadness. She had, but that was exactly why things were changing. Looking back, he'd know it._

* * *

**NOW THAT WAS A LONG CHAPTER. AT LEAST, LONGER THAN USUAL FOR THIS STORY. I HAD A LOT OF IDEAS AND I WANTED TO GET THEM ALL COVERED IN ONE FELL SCOOP, ESPECIALLY AFTER WATCHING EPISODE 16 OF RWBY. I STATED BEFORE THAT WEISS IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. THAT STILL STANDS, BUT AFTER WATCHING EPISODE 16, SHE NOW SHARES THAT SPOT WITH BLAKE. LISTENING TO BLAKE TALK ABOUT THE WHITE FANG REALLY GAVE ME INSIGHT INTO JUST HOW WISE SHE REALLY IS. SHE'S NOT NAIVE. SHE KNOWS THAT THE WHITE FANG'S VIOLENCE IS ACHIEVING THEIR GOALS. BUT FOR ALL HER REALISM, SHE'S STILL IDEALISTIC. SHE'S STILL THE SAME KID WHO WENT TO ALL THE PROTESTS (AND LOOKED ADORABLE WHILE DOING IT; BLAKE WAS A REALLY CUTE KID!), AND SHE KNOWS THAT THE FAUNUS SHOULD EARN EQUALITY NOT THROUGH FEAR, BUT THROUGH GENUINE RESPECT AND LOVE. I ALSO LIKED SEEING THE IMPULSIVE SIDE OF HER. FOR ALL HER BADASSERY AND WISDOM, SHE'S STILL GROWING AND HAS THINGS TO LEARN. MY ONLY COMPLAINT ABOUT EPISODE 16: NO ADAM! WHY, WHY WHY DID ADAM NOT SHOW UP?! I KNOW THAT THE EPISODE WENT SWIMMINGLY WITHOUT HIM, BUT I DON'T WANT TO WAIT FOR WHO KNOWS HOW MANY WEEKS (I HEARD THERE'D BE A TWO WEEK HIATUS, BUT I CAN'T SAY THAT FOR CERTAIN) FOR THE SECOND PART OF SEASON ONE TO START UP SO THAT I CAN SEE ADAM! WHERE ARE YOU, MOST BADASS MALE CHARACTER IN RWBY?! **

**ANYWAY, NOW ABOUT THE STORY: I DON'T WANT TO SOUND ARROGANT OR ANYTHING, BUT I REALLY LIKE WHAT I WROTE. MAYBE, LOOKING BACK, I'LL FIND SOME FLAWS, BUT FOR NOW I THINK I'VE WRITTEN THE BEST I COULD WRITE FOR THIS INTENSE CHAPTER. FIGHT SCENES ARE SMOOTH AND FLOW WELL, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS WELL-DONE, AND ADAM GOES BATSHIT INSANE. ALL THE ELEMENTS OF A GOOD STORY! WHILE I DIDN'T LIKE MAKING BLAKE HELPLESS, BUT I DOUBT ANYONE WOULD HAVE MUCH OF A FIGHTING SPIRIT IF THEIR PARENTS DIED VIOLENTLY BEFORE THEIR EYES. OF COURSE, THERE ARE THOSE WHO WILL LIKELY DISAGREE WITH MY OPINION OF MY WORK, AND I'D BE INTERESTED TO KNOW WHY, IF ANYONE FEELS SO INCLINED TO TELL ME. I CAN ALWAYS USE MORE ADVICE SO I CAN IMPROVE MY SKILLS!**

**AND FOR MY FINAL NOTE, ROMAN TORCHWICK. WHILE HE'S NOT A BIG PLAYER IN THIS STORY, I JUST WANT TO APPRECIATE HOW AWESOME HE IS. PSYCHOTIC, EXPENSIVE TASTES, FUNNY, WITTY, GREAT AT SCHEMING, AND ON TOP OF THAT, HE CAN FIGHT! AND HE TOOK ON TWO BADASS OPPONENTS, NO LESS. IF I COULD BE ANY CRIMINAL, I THINK I'D BE ROMAN TORCHWICK.**


End file.
